Man accused of doing work without having a license

AVON PARK — A woman’s unhappiness over a project to demolish two homes and a garage led to an Avon Park man being accused of doing construction work without having a license, according to a report released Wednesday.

Bobby Lee Taylor, 58, 2813 Wellston Ave., Avon Park, was arrested by the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony contracting without a license and performing work without obtaining a building permit.

When deputies arrested Taylor on the warrant for those charges, they discovered he had a credit card belonging to another person, an arrest report said. That led to him being charged with theft of a credit card.

In the construction case, the woman told deputies that she hired Taylor to demolish the homes, but was unhappy that the work proceeded too slowly, a warrant affidavit said.

The woman told deputies she tried to contact Taylor for more than a month without success, the report said. Then she discovered that Taylor didn’t have a license, she told deputies.

Deputies also could not find evidence that Taylor had a contractor’s license or that he had obtained a Highlands County building permit for the demolition project, the report said.

It was also discovered that in 2005, Taylor was arrested and charged in Polk County with falsely identifying himself as a contractor, the report said. He was convicted on that charge, Polk County Clerk of Court records show.

Two years later, he was charged with violation of probation on that charge, the records said.